Associate Professor Lisa O'Keeffe

Associate Professor in Mathematics Education UniSA Education Futures

Mawson Lakes Campus (G3-26)
tel +61 8 830 26474

email Lisa.OKeeffe@unisa.edu.au

Research Degree Supervisor

About me

Mathematics Textbook Analysis
Language and Mathematics
Numeracy

Dr Lisa O’Keeffe is a Senior Lecturer in Mathematics Education in Education Futures at the University of South Australia, having also worked in the Irish and UK contexts. She has previously taught mathematics at both second and third level to a wide variety of students in both the Irish and UK contexts and has coordinated a successful national blended learning project for Professional Development of in-service teachers in Ireland. Her work has been recognised with national and university teaching and research awards, including a AAUT Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (2021), and a MERGA Early Career Research Award in 2016.

Lisa’s research is focused on ways we can better... Read more

UniSA Education Futures

Focused on developing education professionals, UniSA Education Futures contributes to innovation in education practice through quality teaching, learning and research excellence.

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Research

Research focus

Curriculum and Pedagogy
Specialist Studies in Education
Sociology
Education
Education Systems

Highlights

Mathematics Textbook Analysis, Pre-Service Teachers of Mathematics, Mathematical Language and Analysis, Numeracy

Research

Outputs

Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. Some long-standing staff members may have older outputs included. To see earlier years visit ORCID or Scopus

Open access indicates that an output is open access.

Highlights

Year	Output
2021	O'Keeffe, L & Paige, K 2021, 'Re-highlighting the potential of critical numeracy', Mathematics Education Research Journal, vol. 33, pp. 285-299. Open access 9 4
2020	O'Keeffe, L, Rosa, A, Vannini, I & White, B 2020, 'Promote informal formative assessment practices in higher education:the potential of video analysis as a training tool', Formare, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 43-61. Open access
2019	Balzaretti, N, Ciani, A, Cutting, C, O'Keeffe, L & White, B 2019, 'Unpacking the potential of 360degree video to support pre-service teacher development', Research on Education and Media, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 63-69. Open access
2019	O'Keeffe, L, Paige, K & Osborne, S 2019, 'Getting started: exploring pre-service teachers' confidence and knowledge of culturally responsive pedagogy in teaching mathematics and science', Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education. Open access 21 14

Chapters

Year	Output
2024	Anderson, J, English, L, Highfield, K & O'Keeffe, L 2024, 'Highlighting mathematics in STEM school education', Research in Mathematics Education in Australasia 2020-2023, Springer, Singapore, ch. 13, pp. 309-332. 1
2023	Zeegers, Y, O'Keeffe, L & White, B 2023, 'Inquiry-based teaching and STEM education', in R Tierney, F Rizvi & K Ercikan (eds), International Encyclopedia of Education: Fourth Edition, Elsevier, Netherlands, pp. 96-102.
2021	Paige, K, Brown, L, O'Keeffe, L & Garrett, R 2021, 'Dramatising the S and M in STEM', in PJ White, J Raphael & K van Cuylenburg (eds), Science and Drama: Contemporary and Creative Approaches to Teaching and Learning, Springer, Switzerland, ch. 5, pp. 73-92. Open access 1
2020	Paige, K, O'Keeffe, L & Lloyd, D 2020, 'More than STEM: Connecting students' learning to community through eco-justice', in A Fitzgerald, C Haeusler & L Pfeiffer (eds), STEM Education in Primary Classrooms: Unravelling Contemporary Approaches in Australia and New Zealand, Routledge, UK, ch. 10, pp. 151-167. 3
2012	O'Keeffe, L & Fitzmaurice, O 2012, 'The use of Tablet Technology to enhance mathematics learning support at the University of Limerick', in A Marcus-Quinn et al. (eds), The digital learning revolution in Ireland: case studies from the National Digital Learning Resources Service, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK, ch. 16, pp. 261-271.

Journal Articles

Year	Output
2025	Morphett, A, O'Keeffe, L & Paige, K 2025, 'Researching mathematics in rural primary multigrade classrooms', International Journal of Educational Research, vol. 131, article no. 102595, pp. 1-12. Open access
2024	Beinke, A, O'Keeffe, L, Albrecht, A & White, B 2024, 'An approach to building thinking classrooms in year 7 mathematics', The Australian Mathematics Education Journal, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 4-10.
2024	Colton, J, O'Keeffe, L, Barry, G, White, B & White, J 2024, 'Teacher's perceptions of pedagogical practices in innovative learning spaces', Pedagogy Culture and Society, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 675-697. Open access 2 1 5
2024	Maher, K, Rigney, L-I, King, M, Garrett, R, Windle, J, Memon, N, Wrench, A, Carter, J, Paige, K, O'Keeffe, L, Lovell, M, Schulz, S, Soong, H, Colton, J, McDonald, S & Hattam, R 2024, 'Curriculum, democracy and pedagogies for justice: a collective futures dialogue', Curriculum Perspectives, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 105-119. Open access 2 2
2024	Morphett, A, O'Keeffe, L & Paige, K 2024, 'A blueprint for rural mathematics: connecting social space, identity and teacher pedagogy', Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 76-92. Open access 1
2024	Paige, K, O'Keeffe, L & Osborne, S 2024, 'Silence is not an option: pre-service teachers embedding first nation knowledge and practices in primary/middle mathematics and science', International Journal of Science Education, vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 28-45. Open access 4 2 43
2023	Haggerty, B, Paige, K & O'Keeffe, L 2023, 'A transdisciplinary approach to teaching citizen science in a primary classroom', Teaching Science, vol. 69, no. 2, pp. 11-20.
2023	O'Keeffe, L, Clarke, C, McDonald, S & Comber, B 2023, 'Mathematics homework and the potential compounding of educational disadvantage', British Journal of Sociology of Education, vol. 44, no. 7, pp. 1144-1160. Open access 5 3 91
2022	Cutting, C & O'Keeffe, L 2022, 'Supporting children to think flexibly about fractions', Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 6-10. Open access
2022	Leonard, SN, O'Keeffe, L, White, B, O'Leary, M & Sloan, K 2022, 'The STEM crisis and teacher practice: exploring responses to the competing discursive arrangements of education in the sciences in a catholic school setting', Education Sciences, vol. 12, no. 10, article no. 709, pp. 1-14. Open access 1
2022	O'Keeffe, L & White, B 2022, 'Supporting Mathematics Pre-Service Teachers Reflection with 360degree Video and the Knowledge Quartet', Australian Journal of Teacher Education, vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 57-71. Open access
2021	O'Keeffe, L & Paige, K 2021, 'Re-highlighting the potential of critical numeracy', Mathematics Education Research Journal, vol. 33, pp. 285-299. Open access 9 4
2021	Scott, L, Pilla, L, O'Keeffe, L & White, B 2021, 'STEM through inquiry projects for students: a teacher's perspective', Teaching Science, vol. 67, no. 3, pp. 26-37. Open access
2020	O'Keeffe, L & Paige, K 2020, 'Reflections on journaling: an initiative to support pre-service mathematics and science teachers', Australian Journal of Teacher Education, vol. 45, no. 4, article no. 6, pp. 76-95. Open access 5 4
2020	O'Keeffe, L, Rosa, A, Vannini, I & White, B 2020, 'Promote informal formative assessment practices in higher education:the potential of video analysis as a training tool', Formare, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 43-61. Open access
2019	Balzaretti, N, Ciani, A, Cutting, C, O'Keeffe, L & White, B 2019, 'Unpacking the potential of 360degree video to support pre-service teacher development', Research on Education and Media, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 63-69. Open access
2019	Fowler, S, O'Keefe, L, Cutting, C & Leonard, S 2019, 'The mathematics proficiencies: A doorway into spatial thinking', Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 36-40. Open access
2019	O'Keeffe, L, Paige, K & Osborne, S 2019, 'Getting started: exploring pre-service teachers' confidence and knowledge of culturally responsive pedagogy in teaching mathematics and science', Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education. Open access 21 14
2019	Paige, K, O'Keeffe, L, Geer, R, MacGregor, D & Panizzon, D 2019, 'Using artefacts to articulate teachers' perceptions of STEM', Teaching Science, vol. 65, no. 1, pp. 48-54. Open access
2018	Brown, L, O'Keeffe, L & Paige, K 2018, 'The colour of velvet: a transdisciplinary approach to connecting students from a refugee background to the natural world', Teaching Science, vol. 63, no. 4, pp. 20-32. Open access
2018	O'Keeffe, L & White, B 2018, 'The 'art' of ratio: using a hands-on ratio task to explore student thinking', Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 27-31. Open access
2018	Paige, K, Lloyd, D, Caldwell, D, Comber, B, O'Keeffe, L, Osborne, S & Roetman, P 2018, 'Futures in primary science education-connecting students to place and ecojustice', Visions for Sustainability, vol. 9, pp. 49-59. Open access
2018	Panizzon, D, Geer, R, Paige, K, O'Keeffe, L, Schultz, L, Zeegers, Y & Brown, L 2018, 'Exploring the 'hard facts' around STEM in Australia: females, low socioeconomic status and absenteeism', International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, vol. 26, no. 8, pp. 30-44. Open access
2017	O'Keeffe, L & White, B 2017, 'A snapshot of the current role of the mathematics textbook in English secondary mathematics classrooms', International Journal for Mathematics Teaching and Learning, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 318-332. Open access
2017	O'Keeffe, L, O'Halloran, KL, Wignell, P & Tan, S 2017, 'A linguistic analysis of the sample numeracy skills test items for pre-service teachers issued by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)', The Australian Educational Researcher, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 233-253. Open access 6 4 21
2016	Johnson, P & O'Keeffe, L 2016, 'The effect of a pre-university mathematics bridging course on adult learners' self-efficacy and retention rates in STEM subjects', Irish Educational Studies, vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 233-248. Open access 10 9
2015	O'Keeffe, L & O'Donoghue, J 2015, 'A role for language analysis in mathematics textbook analysis', International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 1-26. 16 12
2014	Prendergast, M, Johnson, P, Fitzmaurice, O, Liston, M, O'Keeffe, L & O'Meara, N 2014, 'Mathematical thinking: challenging prospective teachers to do more than 'talk the talk'', International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, vol. 45, no. 5, pp. 635-647. Open access 15 15
2013	O'Keeffe, L 2013, 'A framework for textbook analysis', International Review of Contemporary Learning Research, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 1-13. Open access
2011	O'Keeffe, L & O'Donoghue, J 2011, 'The use of evidence based research on mathematics textbooks to increase student conceptual understanding', International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 304-311. Open access

Conferences

Year	Output
2024	Albrecht, A & O'Keeffe, L 2024, 'Beyond qualifications: identity of out-of-field teachers in years 7-10 mathematics in South Australia', 46th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, The Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, pp. 87-94. Open access
2023	Albrecht, A, O'Keeffe, L & Morrison, A 2023, 'What matters with out-of-field teaching: a preliminary analysis of middle years teachers of mathematics in South Australia', in B Reid-O'Connor et al. (eds), The 45th Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, The Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, pp. 81-89. Open access
2023	Gorman, V, O'Keeffe, L, Albrecht, A & McPhee, J 2023, 'Challenges to numeracy across the curriculum: reflections from a case study', in B Reid-O'Connor, E Prieto-Rodriguez, K Holmes & A Hughes (eds), The 45th Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia: Weaving Mathematics Education From All Perspectives, Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia Inc, pp. 227-234. Open access
2022	Barry, G, O'Keeffe, L, White, B, Colton, J & Farmer, L 2022, 'Preliminary exploration of noise and student learning in modern flexible education spaces', in N Kessissoglou & M Buret (eds), Acoustics 2021 Making Waves, Australian Acoustical Society. Open access
2022	O'Keeffe, L, White, B, Albrecht, A & O'Leary, M 2022, 'A snapshot of gender and mathematics anxiety in years 5 to 8', in Noleine Fitzallen et al. (eds), Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, The Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, pp. 426-433. Open access
2019	O'Keeffe, L 2019, 'An analysis of teacher language in primary mathematics: a comparison of two differing approaches', in G Hine, S Bllackley & A Cooke (eds.), 42nd MERGA Conference 2019: Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, pp. 540-547. Open access
2018	O'Keeffe, L, White, B, Panizzon, D, Elliott, K & Semmens, A 2018, 'Mathematics Anxiety: Year 7 and 8 Student Perceptions', in J Hunter, L Darragh & P Perger (eds), 41st Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, pp. 607-614. Open access
2016	Brown, L & O'Keeffe, L 2016, 'Preparing for the numeracy skills test: developing a self-perception for success', 39th Annual conference of the mathematics education research group of Australasia, MERGA, inpress, pp. 1-8. Open access
2016	O'Keeffe, L 2016, 'A preliminary analysis of the linguistic complexity of numeracy skills test items for pre service teachers', 39th Annual conference of the mathematics education research group of Australasia, MERGA, pp. 1-8. Open access
2014	O'Keeffe, L 2014, 'Mathematics textbook analysis: supporting the implementation of a new mathematics curriculum', in K Jones et al. (eds), International Conference on Mathematics Textbook Research and Development (ICMT-2014), University of Southampton, pp. 365-370. Open access

Reports

Year	Output
2024	OKeeffe, L, Albrecht, A & White, B 2024, Creating rich mathematical experiences in the middle years, University of South Australia, Australia.
2023	Booth, H, OKeeffe, L & Albrecht, A 2023, Creating rich mathematical experiences in the primary years, University of South Australia, Australia.
2023	O'Keeffe, L & Albrecht, A 2023, What matters with out-of-field teaching: teachers of Years 7-10 mathematics in SA department schools, University of South Australia, Australia. Open access
2023	OKeeffe, L, Barry, G, Colton, J & White, B 2023, Researching learning spaces: a cross-disciplinary collaboration, University of South Australia, Australia. Open access
2021	OKeeffe, L & White, B 2021, CESA-UniSA STEM Project, UniSA, Australia. Open access
2018	O'Halloran, K, Tan, S, Sheffield, R, Mallet, D, Aubusson, P, Berry, A & O'Keeffe, L 2018, Encouraging and mapping student engagement through 360-degree video annotation and data analytics, Curtin University, Australia.
2018	O'Halloran, K, Tan, S, Sheffield, R, Mallet, D, Aubusson, P, Berry, A & OKeeffe, L 2018, Encouraging and mapping student engagement through 360 degree video annotation and data analytics, Curtin University, Australia. Open access
2018	Paige, K, Caldwell, D, Elliott, K, O'Keeffe, L, Osborne, S, Roetman, P, Lloyd, D, Comber, B & Gosnell, S 2018, Fresh water literacies: transdisciplinary learning for place and eco justice, University of South Australia, Australia. Open access
2011	O'Keeffe, L & O'Donoghue, J 2011, A review of school textbooks for project maths, National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and Learning (NCE-MSTL), Ireland. Open access

Other outputs

Reports:

O’Keeffe, L. Barry, G., Colton, J., Farmer, L. & White, B. (2023). Researching learning spaces: A cross-disciplinary collaboration. Final Report. University of South Australia.

O’Keeffe, L., White, B., Zeegers, Y. & Leonard, S. (2021). CESA STEM Learning Initiative, school-based projects. Final Report, Catholic Education South Australia.

White, B. & O’Keeffe, L. (2019). Data Analysis and Evaluation of the Years 7 and 8 STEM Collaborative Inquiry Project. Final Report, Department of Education, South Australia.

Paige, K., Caldwell, D., Elliot, K., O’Keeffe, L., Osborne, S., Roetman, P., Lloyd, D. & Comber, B. (2018). Fresh water literacies: Transdisciplinary learning for place and eco justice, Final report, University of South Australia, Australia. ISBN: 10.13135/2384-8677/2773.5.

O’Halloran, K., Tan, S., Sheffield, R., Mallet, D., Aubusson, P., Berry, A. & O’Keeffe, L. (2018). Encouraging and mapping student engagement through 360-degree video annotation and data analytics. Final Report, Curtin University.

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

Organisation	Country
Catholic Education Office	AUSTRALIA
Catholic Education South Australia	AUSTRALIA
Curtin University	AUSTRALIA
Department of Education	PHILIPPINES
Dublin Institute of Technology	IRELAND
Government of South Australia	AUSTRALIA
Monash University	AUSTRALIA
Mount Burr Primary School	AUSTRALIA
Norwood International High School	AUSTRALIA
Queensland University of Technology	AUSTRALIA
RMIT University	AUSTRALIA
South Australian Department of Education and Child Development	AUSTRALIA
St Francis Xavier University	CANADA
Thomas More College	AUSTRALIA
University of Adelaide	AUSTRALIA
University of Bologna	ITALY
University of Canberra	AUSTRALIA
University of Limerick	IRELAND
University of South Australia	AUSTRALIA
University of Sydney	AUSTRALIA
University of Technology Sydney	AUSTRALIA
WSP Australia	AUSTRALIA

External engagement & recognition

Engagement/recognition	Year
2021 Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning Australian Award for University Teaching	2021
Member Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia	2018
Member Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia	2017
Early Career Research Award Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia	2016
Early Career Research Award Mathematics Education Research Group Australasia	2016
Member National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and Learning (NCE-MSTL)	2016
Member British Educational Research Association (BERA)	2016
Member Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia	2016
Member Adults Learning Mathematics (ALM)	2016
Member Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia	2015

Teaching & student supervision

Teaching strengths

Mathematics Education
Numeracy

Teaching & student supervision

Research degree supervision

Supervisions from 2010 shown

Thesis title	Student status
Developmental Dyscalculia: An investigation of Australian and UK policies and practices	Current
Measuring students¿ mathematical resilience to inform teacher practice in the middle years	Current
Minding the gap: strategies for differentiating mathematics instruction in the middle years	Current
STEM Education: Teachers' Attitudes Towards Online Resources in Australian Classrooms and the Impact on Adolescent Girls' Motivation for STEM Education	Current
Teachers' engagement with numeracy across the curriculum	Current
Engaging primary children in citizen science: a practitioner inquiry into pedagogy that works	Completed
Just ask us: a study of middle-primary school teachers¿ mathematics pedagogy in rural South Australia	Completed
Promoting spatial reasoning in makerspaces: a design-based research project exploring the role of epistemic cognition in enriching teachers' pedagogical reasoning	Completed
Years 9 and 10 measurement and geometry: a comparative study of curriculum and proficiency levels in mathematics textbooks in South Australia and Singapore	Completed

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Associate Professor Lisa O'Keeffe

About me

About me

UniSA Education Futures

About me

Professional Associations

Experience

Qualifications

Research

Research focus

Highlights

Projects

Outputs

Highlights

Chapters

Journal Articles

Conferences

Reports

Other outputs

Current research & highlights

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

Collaborations

External engagement & recognition

2021 Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning

Member

Member

Early Career Research Award

Early Career Research Award

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Teaching & student supervision

Teaching strengths

Courses and programs

Courses I teach

Research degree supervision

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